In passenger transport aircraft, it is necessary to provide each passenger with a given number of items of equipment which are electrically supplied, these items of equipment ensuring maximum comfort for the passenger.
In particular, each passenger generally has an individual light, referred to as a reading light, a power point for a laptop computer, video equipment for viewing films, items of comfort equipment, such as massage devices, and an assembly of electrical actuators which allow the movable elements of the passenger seat to be displaced.
The rapid increase in the number of electrically supplied devices provided for each passenger considerably increases the electrical power consumed in the cabin of the aircraft.
It is thus necessary to control the power consumed by the passengers in the course of the flight.
To this end, it is known, in particular from documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,445 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,513 to monitor the power consumed by each passenger, to compare the total power currently consumed by all the passengers with a predetermined threshold value and to prevent the use of additional power by any passenger on the aircraft if the total power currently being consumed is greater than the predetermined threshold value corresponding to the total maximum power which can be allocated to the passengers.
The installation described in the above document thus effectively allows the total power consumed by all the passengers to be limited.
However, in so far as after the total maximum power which can be allocated to all the passengers is reached, no passenger can obtain additional power. Only the passengers who switch on their items of electrical equipment first can thus have power. In contrast, the passengers who would like to switch on an additional item of electrical equipment when a very large number of passengers are already consuming a significant amount of electrical power can no longer obtain power.
This can thus lead to frustration for some passengers who cannot switch on some items of equipment provided for them when the passenger next to them is operating similar items of equipment. A control system of this type can be the cause of disputes between passengers.
Furthermore, patent application FR-01 04385 in the name of LABINAL describes a power control installation in which a total available power level is allocated to each subscriber. A local power control unit for each individual subscriber distributes the power between the various loads of the subscriber in accordance with predetermined regulations so that the total power consumed is not greater than the total available power allocated to the subscriber. An installation of this type allows each subscriber to use most of the loads at his disposal, on condition that he agrees not to use these loads simultaneously.
However, this installation does not allow an optimum control of the power of the aircraft.